Keri Russell gave Matthew Rhys permission to leave her out of his Emmy acceptance speeches.
Russell, who met Rhys on the set of “The Americans” in 2012, spoke about the decision on Chelsea Handler’s “Dear Chelsea” podcast Thursday.
“He was so nervous. I mean, we were all nervous. … But, you know, it’s a lot. It’s a lot of pressure,” Russell, 50, said. “We’re both nervous people. We’re not in this world a lot. We’re visiting this world, and so we were both very nervous.
“I looked at him a few days before and said, ‘OK, well, can you express what you’re most nervous about?'” she continued. “And he says, ‘Yeah, I need to talk.’ And I said, “Totally.” And I said, ‘Take me off your plate.’ Like, you don’t have to thank me. I know you love me.’
The “Felicity” actress also recalled Rhys’ 2018 Emmy win for lead actor in a drama series for “The Americans,” saying people were “still giving him a hard time” for not thanking them in his acceptance speech.
“It’s so crazy. People are going crazy,” she said. “It’s stupid, and it also sucks.”
Handler, 51, pointed out that many people working on a production might deserve to be thanked before someone’s partner, which Russell agreed.
“I don’t care if you want to thank the dog walker. You do what you want. It’s your minute. It’s your 45 seconds,” Russell said. “So I just said, ‘Get me off your plate.’
“We kind of said, ‘We don’t need to thank each other. It’s private. … It’s for business people. Thank whoever you want to thank.'”
Rhys, 51, made history at the 2026 Emmys, winning lead actor in a limited or anthology series or film for “The Beast in Me” before winning lead actor in a comedy series for “Widow’s Bay” — which swept the night with 14 wins overall.
Russell, for her part, was nominated for lead actress in a drama series for “The Diplomat” and also received a nomination as executive producer of the series.
During Rhys’ acceptance speech for “The Beast in Me,” Rhys joked, “Oh, damn it. If you try to taunt me, I’ll stab you in the eye with this,” referring to his Emmy statuette, before thanking the show’s writers and director.
He then singled out his co-star, Claire Danes, saying the cast was “certainly led fiercely, ferociously (and) fervently” by her.
“Thank you for allowing me to join the mystery machine and bring out the beast,” he added. “You are an intimidating scene partner, but I am very grateful for all of this.”
After being announced as the winner of “Widow’s Bay,” Rhys ignored the ovations and applause from his peers before thanking the many people who worked on the series.
He then turned his attention to his family, giving special thanks to his parents and sister.
“They put me on stage from a very young age,” he said of his parents. “My sister, who’s here tonight… turns out she was the brains behind the outfit all along. Thank you for all the wise words and patient listening.”
Russell and Rhys have been dating for over a decade and share a 10-year-old son, Sam, whom they welcomed in May 2016.
The “Mickey Mouse Club” alum is also mom to son River, 19, and daughter Willa, 13, whom she shares with ex-husband Shane Deary.
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